The Mafia Princess

Episode4

The gathering had been moved into the meeting room and everyone was seated waiting for Xavier to arrive. The seat at the head of the table was empty, the one by the right to that was occupied by Ezra and I was sitting beside Ezra. By the left of Xavier’s seat was a man I recognize from other meetings. He didn’t always stay here but he was around so often that I’d know. Beside him was Nate, Nate wasn’t just Ezra’s lackey, he had climbed his way to the top of hierarchy before Ezra chose him. I was sitting directly across from Nate but I made sure not to look at him even though I wanted to. I wasn’t able to get the full details of what was going on from Nate or Ezra but I knew I’d get it when Xavier got here. I tapped my nails against the table slowly, I was getting bored but it was better than having to deal with the obnoxious men out there. The party would soon be over and everyone would leave, I’m guessing that was what Xavier was making sure of. That was good, after this I’d head up to my room and prepare for Nate.

The wait was cut short when Xavier finally entered. Everyone stood up and only sat when he was seated. I looked at Xavier and he looked like he was about to have someone’s head.

“How the hell did this happen. And why am I only getting this news right now”. Xavier said through clenched teeth. He was really pissed.

“The communication is slow due to the unification. That’s the only reason I could think of”. The man sitting beside Nate said. Xavier looked at him and I swore I could see smoke rising from his ears.

“I didn’t know you to be this shallow Adam”. Xavier said and the man shrunk back into his seat.

“Maybe they moved in intelligence first to stop communication lines”. Ezra said and a murmur of acknowledgment ran through the room. I looked around before turning my attention back to Xavier.

“Now that we’ve gotten the information, the next thing to do is to know how many and how far?” Nate asked. I continued to tap my finger against the hard wood, I knew the general issue but I didn’t know who exactly it was.

“At least 20 men were spotted in 5 different locations, 2 were noticeably armed. We assume there are more”. A guy that was standing in the shadows came forward and announced. It didn’t seem that bad but from the reactions I was getting it seemed it was horrible.

“Up the security in the area we don’t want to be the first to draw blood but we need to stand ready in case”. Xavier said and everyone nodded.

“Can we order a tail? We need to be aware of their movement and stop their plans whatever it maybe”. Ezra added. I looked to Nate hoping for a name. He looked at me briefly before looking away and I sighed in my head.

“A tail is going to be really obvious. We don’t want the Russians knowing we are unto them”. Someone from behind me said and I froze. I turned around and locked eyes with the person who had spoken. He was probably joking. We haven’t had contact with the Russians for a very long time and that name brought back horrible memories. I looked at Xavier but he wasn’t looking at me. He knew how much I hated the Russians and my history with them I'm guessing that’s why no one mentioned it before. He didn’t want me to know. I looked at Nate but he too wasn’t looking at me. I turned to Ezra but it was the same as the last two. The room had gotten so quite all of a sudden and I couldn’t bear it. I stood up and walked out not looking back once. No one called out to me or followed me. I didn’t expect them to, I knew they wouldn’t. I get why they did it but I expected some sort of trust there, they made a fool of me back there. I could handle the truth even if it was my worst nightmare, I knew it was going to happen eventually and I had prepared for this my whole life.

I got to my room and I couldn’t even bring myself to undress, I went to the window and stood there, I opened it and let the cool breeze wash over me as I let those memories I usually kept buried in a corner of my resurface.

From the crack in the door of the alcove I was hiding in I saw it all happen. I watched as they broke down the front door and my dad didn’t even try to hide or run. He just stood in front of mom shielding her from the ugly view. There were five of them and they all laughed when they saw him with his arm spread in front of mom.

“I heard you also had a daughter Isaiah, I don’t see her anywhere”. One of them taunted while looking around. I placed my hand over my mouth to avoid making a sound. I was scared and vibrating unable to do anything.

Dad didn’t reply their question; instead he dropped his hands and held my mom’s. The men seemed to still find that funny as they laughed. One of them said something in a language I didn’t understand and the rest laughed.

“Where’s your daughter Isaiah, I won’t ask again”. The one ahead of others asked again. I saw him raise his shirt up a bit flashing the hilt of gun.

“She’s somewhere you’ll never find”. Dad said and the guy brought out the gun. My heart jumped at that but I wouldn’t move not when dad told me not to. He would be fine. Or so I thought. Mom was whimpering from where she was behind dad.

“I’m sure she’s still somewhere in here, I'm sure”. He said and gestured to the men behind him and they brought out there guns and fired randomly around the room. I shrunk back into the alcove becoming as small as I could. I covered my ears with my hands and hid my face between my knees. The shots fired round and I heard mom’s scream somewhere among the loud sounds. I wanted to go out there so they could stop but I was too scared. Glass shattered everywhere and some of the bullets bounced off the door.

Finally the shots stopped and I relaxed slightly. I didn’t dare move to the door; I just stayed where I was and listened to what they were saying.

“It’s either you aren’t a pathological liar or she’s dead. If she isn’t we’ll find her and finish the job”. The voice from earlier said.

“What do you want with me, I’ve done everything you asked of me. This is unnecessary”. Dad said.

“Well, you are smarter than this Isaiah. I’m sure you know why we are here”. The voice came again and then I heard it. Footsteps, slow and they were coming inside the house. The crunch of glass followed whoever was coming in. I moved slowly back to the door to look out. Dad was now kneeling down and a man wearing a suit was standing in front of him. He had a gun in his hand and it was pointed at dad. From the raised cuffs of his sleeve I saw a snake tattoo curling around his wrist to the back of his palm. My throat closed up at that sight, I didn’t know what to do. Dad looked down at the ground and he didn’t look like he had any intention of saving himself. He accepted this fate all by himself.

The sound of a gun firing ran through the air and my mouth fell open. Mom screamed and I didn’t need to see to know what had happened. I screamed in my head but I couldn’t bring any words to come out of my mouth. The second gunshot sounded and just like that it was over.